I was just reading through some of the replies in the welfare post and it got me thinking.
I think most of us can agree our health care needs reformed, but do you also think that other area need to reformed and including in that such as dental insurance and eye insurance?
I ask this because while I have dental insurance and it's pretty resonable cost wise, I've continually put off going to the dentist until yesterday. Even with my insurance I will be paying out of pocket around $600, for cleaning, a crown and 2 fillings. The average household, including mine, cannot afford this. My husband will need to pay out almost $400. While most of this will be recouped by using our HSA (health savings account), we will not have that extra money in there when we need to go for our eye exam and to cover the copays for our insurance for the boys well child checkups.
Our eye exams along with contacts for both of us run at least $500. I try to purchase extra contacts throughout the year that my script is good for just to push going back a little further. We have no eye insurance at the moment, but most eye insurances do not pay a whole lot.
So what are your thoughts on this? Should we also revamp the dental and eye insurance and include them in the health insurance?
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Isn't it sad how we neglect to get these things done for fear of a whopping out- of -pocket bill? And that is if you DO have insurance. We are the same way. We have good insurance, but still pay outrageous bills! What's up? As for the dental reform, it all should be included. Dental health is not a luxury. These days we know that oral heal has so much to do with coronary health, etc,. It should all be included as "health" insurance.
*Sigh*....
Honestly, these replies always confuse me. A LOT.
Right now we have tremendous insurance. I'd like to write them a letter and praise them, but I'm afraid they'd realize how good we have it and change something.
Even when I had crappy insurance I'd always ask about out of pocket expenses...for the once a year cleaning it wasn't ever bad....fillings weren't bad either..but I knew things like crowns could be.
I also know that contacts can also get high.
Honestly...when insurance was the "worst" for us was when we didn't understand it....yearly maximums that we'd have to pay and all that...
I do agree that healthcare needs to be more accessible. Please know that I'm not arguing with that at all.
I agree, especially with dental. My dentist only accepts a small selection of insurance carriers. I have dental insurance as well, but it's a moot point, since he doesn't take it! However, I am completely devoted to him, so that is my way of justifying this unfortunate, yet necessary, expense.
Same with vision, I too buy contacts for the entire year, and yes, it is expensive! Depending on your opthalmalogist, you can sometimes score free lens solution for the entire year and a discount on eyeglass lenses, if you use glasses too.
Honestly...to me...it's about priorities.
People complain about costs...and again, I'm basing our costs off of our insurance plan, so my views can be skewed.
Contacts for a year for DH are about $250...is this normal?
Contact lens solution? Whatever we buy at Wal-Mart lasts FOREVER and is super cheap....like..one bottle for 4 months.
As for dental.....I don't care what dentist (or doctor for that matter) I'm in love with...if they're not taking my plan...I'm not seeing them. I only look for doctors by checking my plan.
So...I'm willing to scale back eating out for a month or if I had to...cut cable to do things like...see, have good teeth..etc.
Quoting sweetie00:
Isn't it sad how we neglect to get these things done for fear of a whopping out- of -pocket bill? And that is if you DO have insurance. We are the same way. We have good insurance, but still pay outrageous bills! What's up? As for the dental reform, it all should be included. Dental health is not a luxury. These days we know that oral heal has so much to do with coronary health, etc,. It should all be included as "health" insurance.
Yes! Out-of-pocket definitely adds up especially when you need major work done, like a crown or removing wisdom teeth.
Does the Polygamous Community Deserve Food Stamps?
- jennmarie77
on Feb. 12, 2009 at 1:33 PM